The maker of one of Counter-Strike’s most iconic maps says he regrets selling it to Valve

“Had I known then how big CS:GO and now CS2 would be, I would never have sold it”

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The creator of one of Counter-Strike’s most popular maps has a serious case of seller’s remorse.

It’s been 11 years sinceValveacquired Mirage from Michael Hüll, and to mark the occasion, the developer has posted a tweet saying that had he known what the future held for the series, he would have done things differently.

“Today is exactly 11 years since I sold Mirage to Valve,” Hüll says in a tweet posted yesterday, February 8. “Had I known then how big CS:GO and now CS2 would be, I would never have sold it.”

Today is exactly 11 years since I sold Mirage to @valvesoftware. Had I known then how big CS:GO and now CS2 would be I would never have sold it, they made a very good deal, but they also made changes I don’t like today. But thank you Mirage.#gamedev#leveldesign@CounterStrikeFebruary 8, 2024

The developer says that Valve “made a very good deal,” though it’s not the money that makes him wish he’d held onto his creation. “I work, so money is not a problem, honor and pride is worth more,” he explains in aseparate tweet. “But they’ve made changes that I can’t really agree with.”

Mirage has indeed undergone various reworkings over the years aimed at improving its quality and making it more balanced, though Hüll argues that these fly in the face of how the map was “originally intended” to be played. “If you test the 1.6 version, it is clearly noticeable on the A site and in the middle,” he says of the changes.

Still, while he may not be thrilled about the modern iterations of Mirage, Hüll is to this day incredibly proud of the map - as he should be - and thrilled that it’s beloved by so many. “There are so many people who appreciate it, which makes me extremely happy,” he says.

Counter-Strike 2officially replaced CS:GOback in September last year, and despite missing many of its predecessor’s quality-of-life features at launch, it still proved so popular thatValve had to boost the shooter’s server capacity in the first patchso more people could play. Amazingly, though, its concurrent player record of 1,818,773 (set by CS: GO earlier in 2023) wasrecently beaten by the unassuming ‘Pokemon with Guns’ offering Palworld.

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Originally from Ireland, I moved to the UK in 2014 to pursue a Games Journalism and PR degree at Staffordshire University. Following that, I’ve freelanced for GamesMaster, Games TM, Official PlayStation Magazine and, more recently, Play and GamesRadar+. My love of gaming sprang from successfully defeating that first Goomba in Super Mario Bros on the NES. These days, PlayStation is my jam. When not gaming or writing, I can usually be found scouring the internet for anything Tomb Raider related to add to my out of control memorabilia collection.

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